Zombie
Zombies are currently found on Node C -30 Zombies are human victims of a fungus. A human inflicted with the fungus becomes deathly sick, feverish and ill. the strongest of humans can survive an infection for 3 days, following which they die. Damaged humans die that much more quickly. Once dead - the body reanimates and exhibits the following symptoms. Loss of sentience - a Zombie has animal intelligence. Perhaps some cunning. Zombies recall nothing of their former lives and exhibit no behaviors from their former lives, except perhaps in the first few minutes after death. Strength and Speed - freshly dead Zombies move very rapidly, and with vicious strength. They are able to max out muscle contractions and seem to suffer no pain. Hunger - Zombie hunger fiercely for brains. The reason for this is that the Zombie fungus is using the remains of its hosts biological energy to power nerve and muscle cells, The undead brain signals frantically that it requires more energy - signals that are interpreted as a desperate hunger for the brains and flesh of the living. A Zombie will fall upon a victim, break open his skull and devour his brains. Following this a Zombie may well eat the restof his victim's flesh. Zombies can detect living humans by motion, color, sound and perhaps smell. They attack in a berzerk fashion, extending insane effort to reach the tasty brains andd flesh of their victims. Resistance - Most of a Zombie's organs are not functioning - or being forced into a bizzare sembelance of life by the fungus - damage to a zombie's body is ignored. The only place where a Zombie is vulnerable is the brain. With enough damage to the brain, the Zombie fungus looses the ability to coordinate the movements of the host body. The Zombie then lays down and twitches, spasms and otherwise moves in an uncoordinated fashion. A Dead body infected with Zombie Fungus remains infected and contagious no matter it's condition, until burned. Infection - the Zombie Fungus permeates the body and blood stream of its victim within minutes of the initial exposure. The infection is transmitted by bodily fluids - particularly saliva and blood. intact skin wards off the infection but even the smallest cut can allow a spore or two into the blood. In most cases the initial infection, and resulting violence results in an immediate collapse of the medical infrastructure. Simple anti-biotics will destroy the fungus. Simple cleaning solutions, especially Alcohol and amonia will destroy the fungus on normal surfaces. The bites and claws of Zombies carry the fungus. Often blood and body parts, splattered around by enthusiastic shooting, hacking and rending of the Zombie can act as an unawares method of transmission. Initial, middle and late Zombie stages '''- "fresh" Zombies are by far the most dangerous, the fastest and the strongest. they exhibit gray skin of "Deathly" Pallor. Zombies in such a state are burning muscle and nerve tissue at an incredible rate to stay active. a running, fighting Zombie, under constant stress will grow thinner and thinner. Without visible prey, Zombies will wander around randomly, minimizing energy output. '''Middle stage Zombies - Dead bodies affected by the Zombie virus putrify and rot. Mid stage zombies show the signs of this, green rotting sections, mold and a horrible smell. Fighting these Zombies can be an especially horrible experience as the side effects can be grotesque and ... splashy... Late-middle stage Zombies are skeltal and visibly slower, less energetic than fresh ones. Late stage Zombies - this phase can take an open ended amount of time to reach - depending on local conditions - a zombie can be so badly damaged by decomposition that it's ability to move is impaired and eventually lost. Early on these zombies come to resemble the undead of myths. Shambling skeletons surrounded by strips of rotted flesh. As these totally loose the ability to move they lay down and the fungus enters a sort of "Normal Fungus" mode - growing like moss on the surface of it's former victim's bones. Post Zombie stage - the fungus in it's "Normal" phase remains infectious and dangerous but has no ability to move on it's own. it can be carried by animals but seems to ignore them. It only affects humans with it's "Zombie" phase. The fungus then proceeds to grow along normal non-magical fungus lines. Zombies on a stick - in cold environments - the Zombie and it's fugus freeze solid. This lasts until thawed. In extremely cold environments a Zombie may become frozen and remain dangerous for an open ended amount of time. A thawed Zombie will, as quickly as possible pursue prey. In a warm enviroment, the partial thawed zombie will shamble, dragging it's partially frozen corpse along. A frozen then Thawed Zombie will quickly advance through the stages of decomposition until it becomes inert. because the Zombie fungus remains growing and viable, as with any mold or fungus after the Zombie attack, explorers and survivors risk exposure even years after a Zombie attack has seemed to subside. The Zombie Fungus is a Mellor Bio weapon People who discovered the fungus are the first vectors, unavailable for questioning. Surviving a Zombie attack - The first hint that most people have of a Zombie infestation will be an attack by the dead. if the victim survives this horrible surprise the steps in order - *Find a gun. *Shoot for the head. *Band together with other survivors. *Retreat to a defensible location *Hold out for 60 - 90 days This can be tricky depending on the availablity of food and water in the chosen place. By then the largest majority of Zombies will be inoperative. however care must be taken. Zombies will be around and dangerousfor years afterwards, bolstered by the fresh bodies of careless survivors.